


Writing on the Walls

by polyfandrous



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Human, Friendship, Gen, POV Second Person, Sadstuck, Tragedy, pesterchum logs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-04
Updated: 2013-09-06
Packaged: 2017-12-25 15:05:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,995
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/954550
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/polyfandrous/pseuds/polyfandrous
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sadstuck AU. Jade starts out her day as usual, but none of her friends are online. It's been like that for a while. The story starts out slow, this chapter, but it will pick up as I cycle through the Beta kids! Rated T for potential coarse language, as well as other things as you notice them. Don't want to give away too much.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Jade

Your name is Jade Harley, and you have just woken up from one of your frequent and unpredictable naps. You yawn, stretch, open your eyes… And realize that your vision is blurry. Odd. You must have intentionally decided to nap, and taken off your glasses. You search about your room, and finally find them on your bedside table. That makes sense. You place them on your face, turn around, and see your large, white, faithful dog looking at you, wagging his tail.

"Hey there, boy!" you say to Becquerel. "Good boy! Best friend! You must be hungry. Let's find you some irradiated steaks!" You grab a raw steak out of the freezer and put it in your cookalizer. You set it to irradiate, wait a few moments, and a green, glowing steak is produced. Perfect! Just the way Bec likes it. You throw it at him, and he eats it gratefully.

You're not hungry yet, but you wonder what your friends are up to. You walk over to your computer, settle in, and log into Pesterchum. Your login screen completes its load, but unfortunately, it seems that none of your friends are online. You heave a sad sigh – it seems like they haven't been online very often lately. Oh well, you still have your loyal dog, Bec. Maybe you'll leave each of them a message, let them know you miss them. They'll likely get back to you soon, whether or not you're online. You smile as you highlight a screen name and open a chat.

\- gardenGnostic [GG] began pestering turntechGodhead [TG] at 10:12 -  
GG: hey there cool kid!  
GG: soooo cooool  
GG: too cool to be online i guess :)  
GG: youve probably got some really cool things to be doing!  
GG: and i guess the time difference could have something to do with it  
GG: i dont know, i just wanted to see what you were doing  
GG: its been kind of lonely :(  
GG: rose and john arent online much anymore, either…  
GG: but its ok! ive got Bec, and i get your messages when you come online! :)  
GG: im going to message rose and john now  
GG: cant wait to hear from you, cool kid! :)  
\- gardenGnostic [GG] ceased pestering turntechGodhead [TG] at 10:16 -

You smile sadly, thinking of Dave. Soooo coooool. It amazes you, some days, that a dude as cool as he is willing to humour you. You're eternally grateful for his friendship. He's always willing to talk to you, and he's so funny and nice. And cool. You figure you'll message one of your other friends, now.

\- gardenGnostic [GG] began pestering ectoBiologist [EB] at 10:20 -  
GG: hey john! :)  
GG: how are you today?  
GG: pull any good pranks?  
GG: your dad still baking too many cakes? :(  
GG: i know he bakes a lot, but i still think that cake is delicious! :) i dont understand why you hate it so much :S  
GG: have you pulled anymore awesome pranks? :3  
GG: oh wait i asked that already :S  
GG: um  
GG: watched anymore awesome nic cage flicks?  
GG: its really weird that none of you have been online lately…  
GG: and sad :(  
GG: because otherwise its just me and bec :(  
GG: well anyways  
GG: get back to me when you can, john! :)  
\- gardenGnostic [GG] ceased pestering ectoBiologist [EB] at 10:25 -

You giggle at the thought of John watching his Nicolas Cage movies. He loves them so much. You've never seen one, yourself, but it's pretty hard to watch movies when you live on an island. You've been told you can download them off the Internet, but it doesn't seem right, not paying for them. You still don't entirely understand his hatred of cake, but he's so much fun to talk to, and always so positive, that it's always a pleasure to speak with him. Not to mention, his pranks are incredibly funny. You still have one more friend you'd like to contact.

\- gardenGnostic [GG] began pestering tentacleTherapist [TT at 10:31 -  
GG: hi rose! :)  
GG: how are you? :)  
GG: im sad that youre not online :(  
GG: i hope you and your mom are getting along okay!  
GG: have you been psychoanalyzing dave?  
GG: i bet thats really fun :3  
GG: he hates it but I think it would be funny to see! :)  
GG: anyways i just wanted to say hi  
GG: because were never online at the same time anymore  
GG: im not going to wait and see if anyone comes online, though…  
GG: im going to go play with bec! :) :)  
GG: but hopefully well get to talk again soon!  
\- gardenGnostic [GG] ceased pestering tentacleTherapist [TT] at 10:36 -

You're sad that you couldn't talk to Rose. She's really smart, but she's never condescending about it. You appreciate her dry wit and sarcasm. She's a great friend, and it's nice to know another girl. You log out of Pesterchum, and walk back over to Bec, who is happily wagging his tail. At least you still have your good dog, your best friend. Maybe next time you check Pesterchum, your friends will be online. Or they'll have at least messaged you back. You smile at the thought of your friends, as you make your way to your garden.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry, I know this is starting out very slowly. I've actually polished it up quite a bit since its original posting on Fanfiction.net. Anyhow, it's slow for a reason. Next chapter, we'll have Dave's POV, and something strange will happen. The strangeness levels will increase with each chapter, until the epic conclusion. Or, just plain conclusion. How you feel about it will be up to you. I'm not sure if I'll get the entire work uploaded in one day - it is multi-chaptered, but still quite short, so I might be happy enough to get the whole thing archived here today. We'll see. Comments and criticism are always welcome!  
> Edit: I'm in the process of coding the pesterlogs, so from here on in they should be all pretty and such :)


	2. Dave

Your name is Dave Strider, and you have just picked yourself up off the floor and removed a pair of prescription glasses from your face? What the..? Your Bro pranks you occasionally, but it usually involves more smuppets, and is way more ironic. Unless the levels of irony here are so layered that you can't even parse out the ironic core. Yeah, that's gotta be it. You remove the ridiculous hipster frames and look for those awful shades that Egbert got you. They're from one of his lame actors that he likes (Ben Stiller, you recall, but you'd never admit to even knowing who he is), and the irony of wearing them outweighs how lame they are. You flash step across the room, deftly avoiding the mess of cables, retrieve your shades from your cinder block desk, and shield your scarlet eyes with them. The act of getting to your desk has brought you face-to-face with your computer, and you decide to log into Pesterchum. Your friends are probably missing you anyways; everyone could use a little Strider in their lives, but only a select few are truly worthy.

You log into Pesterchum, and notice several lines of bright green text from a certain Jade Harley. If you weren't a Strider, you'd probably smile to yourself. Harley is a cool chick, after all, and while you'd never admit it, her enthusiasm really brightens your day. But, you gotta maintain the Strider cool. You can do that and respond to her message, even though she's offline.

\- turntechGodhead [TG] began pestering gardenGnostic [GG] at 11:43 -  
TG: whoa whoa whoa there harley  
TG: slow down the emotional steamroller  
TG: youll flatten this strider with them  
TG: make a touchy feely pancake out of me  
TG: sorry i missed your message though  
TG: you know how it is. schedule of a cool kid is right demanding like someone who burnt themself on a cup of mcdonalds coffee and is suing because they couldnt read the warning label  
TG: i cant believe you still have that devilbeast  
TG: anyways harley  
TG: maybe youll be lucky enough to catch me online sometime and bask in some of this strider glory  
TG: im going to go harass lalonde  
TG: later  
\- turntechGodhead [TG] ceased pestering gardenGnostic [GG] at 11:50 -

You have to agree with Jade on the strangeness of this whole Pesterchum situation. She had been online little more than an hour ago, by your Pesterchum's internal clock. And you haven’t noticed John or Rose online lately, either. You figure you'd best pester the other two, as well. Check and make sure they're alive, at least. They'll get back to you whenever they're online.

\- turntechGodhead [TG] began pestering tentacleTherapist [TT] at 11:52 -  
TG: hey lalonde  
TG: sup  
TG: you havent been around in a while  
TG: not that ive really missed your crazy horrorterror therapy  
TG: or wizard porn  
TG: nope this strider is way too cool to be missing some crazy bitch  
TG: i was just feeling generous and figured id message you  
TG: because youre probably feeling a little down without a bit of strider in your life  
TG: need me to mix things up with some sick beats and rude rhymes  
TG: but seriously though whats with all the eldritch shit  
TG: right  
TG: still not there  
TG: anyways you can get back to me whenever  
TG: im gonna see what egbert is up to  
TG: later  
\- turntechGodhead [TG] ceased pestering tentacleTherapist [TT] at 11:57 -

Rose, despite her need to psychoanalyze everything you do and give it some sort of homoerotic spin, is actually pretty cool. She is an unparalleled verbal sparring partner, though you'd never tell her you enjoy talking to her. Can't be going and having feelings everywhere like some kind of Harley-puppy dog mutation or anything. While you're musing over Rose, a slight movement catches the corner of your eye. You turn your head slightly to the left, and are greeted with that shit-eating clown grin of Lil' Cal's. When did that get there? No Strider would ever admit to being unnerved, or show any sign of it, but it's a good thing your shades hid the slight widening of your eyes. You could never figure out why Bro loved that damn puppet so much. You return your gaze to the computer screen, and open up a chat window to begin pestering John.

\- turntechGodhead [TG] began pestering ectoBiologist [EB] at 12:02 -  
TG: sup egbert  
TG: you know youre really failing at maintaining the best bro designation  
TG: which i might add is a position of honor  
TG: like youve basically been knighted  
TG: vowed to keep the peace protect the weak and defenseless and serve king strider  
TG: definitely not managing the last one  
TG: might have to strip you of your lands and titles  
TG: seriously though even a cool dude like me could use his best bro around every now and then  
TG: i havent even been able to test any of my new beats on harley or lalonde either  
TG: you guys are all mia  
TG: its like some kind of crazy conspiracy  
TG: serious mission impossible shit going on here  
TG: anyways im going to go keep working on my current masterpiece  
TG: drop some beats bust some rhymes like it aint no thing  
TG: later  
\- turntechGodhead [TG] ceased pestering ectoBiologist [EB] at 12:07 -

You almost shake your head, thinking of the ridiculous antics your best bro gets up to. He's probably pulling some prank, or freeing the world of another pesky pastry. Even though he hasn't been around in a while, he's really a great friend. Damn dude is freaking positive about everything, he must be related to Harley or something. He also has the proper respect for a master wordsmith such as yourself. You sign out of Pesterchum, get up, and make your way to your turntables. Might as well do as you said, drop some beats and bust some rhymes like it ain't no thing. There's really no better way to kill some time, and your Bro hasn't shown up yet for a strife session. Might as well make the best of your current solitude.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here we have Dave's POV. I've actually touched it up quite a bit since its first posting, and removed/changed some elements that weren't particularly in character for Dave, so I'm really hoping I've capture his..well, Dave-ness more effectively here. Also, you'll notice that this chapter is a bit longer than the last - I think it's because Dave is really fun to write, and has a tendency for soliloquy, as has been noted canonically by Rose. So naturally he's going to talk more than Jade. The narrative is still moving slowly, I know, but ideally not so much as the last chapter. Next chapter will be stranger still, and ideally more exciting, given that. Next chapter will be John's POV, which may or may not be up today, depending on how much editing it requires. A big thank you to everyone who's been reading thus far, and please, feel free to comment! What did you like, what didn't you like? This is my first foray into Second Person POV, and I'm definitely not comfortable with it. I hope that's not leaking out too much into the story itself. I'd love to hear your thoughts, anyhow.


	3. John

Your name is John Egbert, and you evidently fell asleep at your desk! That's odd. You're a master prankster and gamer, but you don't usually spend enough time at your desk to pass out at it. That's silly! You look around your room, and notice that it's dark. It must be late. But - the clock on your computer says 17:07! You comb your hands through your hair in confusion, and hook your finger through the arm of a spectacle frame. What the - you were wearing aviator shades? You don't own aviator shades! At this realization, unbidden thoughts bubble up towards the surface of your mind. You dispel them with an absent shake of your head - the important question is, where are _your_ glasses?

You spend the next ten minutes searching your room frantically on hands and knees, lest you accidentally break your glasses. You finally find them, in the middle of the floor, and put them on. Ah, clear vision! The excitement of seeing clearly makes you forget why you were even looking for your glasses. You stand up, dust your legs off, and turn around, catching sight of a flashing window on your computer screen. Oh, look, two of your chums are pestering you! Well, it's more accurate to say they _have_ pestered you. You should probably reply to them - Jade first, as she messaged you first.

\- ectoBiologist [EB] began pestering gardenGnostic [GG] at 17:19 -   
EB: hey Jade! sorry I missed you! :B   
EB: i'm doing really well today, although I napped at a really weird time.   
EB: i know there's a time difference, but I woke up at what is late afternoon for me.   
EB: yeah, my dad still bakes too much, and won't listen to my warnings about the batter witch.   
EB: but I guess I'm used to it.   
EB: oh! I watched a really cool Nic Cage movie recently! it's called National Treasure.   
EB: a lot of things happen but the bottom line is that he steals the Declaration of Independence! and saves the day, of course.   
EB: i haven't done a lot of pranking but things have been good.   
EB: i mean other than missing you and everyone else so much lately.   
EB: anyways Jade I hope you're doing okay! get back to me soon!   
EB: i'm going to reply to Dave now. i can't believe we keep missing each other like this!   
\- ectoBiologist [EB] ceased pestering gardenGnostic [GG] at 17:25 -

You smile a goofy, toothy grin at the thought of your friend Jade. She can be a little strange sometimes, but her enthusiasm matches - maybe even exceeds - yours, and it's always good to have positive people in your life. You feel bad that you haven't gotten to talk to her lately; she must be lonely on her island. The thought of Jade having no one to talk to pulls your smile down into a small frown, which isn't helped by the thought that you haven't spoken to any of your group of friends in a while, either. Well, it can't go on forever, and you've got a message from Dave, too. You should probably respond to him. You smile again as you open his pesterlog.

\- ectoBiologist [EB] began pestering turntechGodhead [TG] at 17:28 -   
EB: hey Dave! i'm sorry I missed your message!   
EB: and you definitely should have told me that you’d knighted me! there are probably all sorts of damsels in distress that needed a knight, and i didn’t even know i was one! :B   
EB: but yeah, i don't know, it's really weird how we're never online at the same time, any of us.   
EB: maybe you're right, maybe it's some kind of conspiracy.   
EB: but I'm really not trying to fail my best bro duties!   
EB: i hope you're still doing really awesome.   
EB: and still successfully hiding your love of Ben Stiller and other such things.   
EB: if you ever come out in the open about that I'll be worried that Hell froze over.   
EB: you enjoy your sick beats there :B   
EB: i'm going to check on Rose now, and hopefully I'll hear from you guys soon!   
\- ectoBiologist [EB] ceased pestering turntechGodhead [TG] at 17:35 -

You're still puzzled by the fact that none of your friends have been online at the same time as you, but you decide not to dwell on it too much. You do miss talking to them, especially Dave. He's your best bro, after all! You really admire his rapping skills, and all-around cool kid attitude. You know that deep down, he's a lot more sincere than he likes to let on, which is why he's your best bro. Hopefully you'll get to talk to him again, soon. Especially since the SBURB beta is coming out soon, which you are seriously excited about! For now, though, you'd best message your final friend.

\- ectoBiologist [EB] began pestering tentacleTherapist [TT] at 17:38 -   
EB: hey Rose!   
EB: how are you?   
EB: i've been great! lots of great Nic Cage movies and pranks and whatnot.   
EB: is your Mom still being really awful?   
EB: you know I still think the wizard thing is kind of cool. it's better than clowns!   
EB: sorry, harlequins, according to my dad.   
EB: well I hope you're doing well, and that I get to talk to you soon :B   
EB: i haven't heard from you, Jade or Dave in a long time! i mean, other than offline messages.   
EB: i know there's a bit of a time difference but I didn't think it was THAT bad.   
EB: well, get back to me when you can!   
\- ectoBiologist [EB] ceased pestering tentacleTherapist [TT] at 17:43 -

Rose is usually so serious! She would probably scoff at your concern. If Dave said anything to her about a conspiracy theory, she'd think he was paranoid, and start psychoanalyzing him. She likes to do that, and throws in so many big words when she talks to you that you get confused and start to believe her. She probably is right - you might not quite have her vocabulary, but you are able to recognize her obvious intelligence. Well, now that you've messaged all of your friends, you might as well do something to pass the time. Maybe if you check back later, somebody will be online! You decide to get up, and walk over to your magic chest, before heading downstairs. Your Dad probably has a bunch of baked monstrosities downstairs to assault you with, and you don't feel like strife right now. On your way across your room, you trip over something soft (how did you even manage that?) and land flat on your face, your glasses landing on the floor within arm's reach in front of you.

You prop yourself up, grab and replace your glasses, and then roll over to see what you tripped on. Your floor is usually pretty clean; it's unusual that something would get underfoot. What you see... doesn't make ANY sense! A stuffed white dog? You don't own - as the thought forms in your mind, other memories that are not your own tear across your mental landscape. In the wake of these memories a nearly paralyzing terror remains, coiling around your insides. What's going on?! The strange intrusion gives you a headache, and you subconsciously hold your head in your hands and shake, trying to shake away the fear and uncertainty gripping you. This doesn't make any -

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here we have John's POV. You might have noticed that the time from the start of a message to the end is slightly different for each Beta kid so far. I'm being fairly random about this, but I definitely have a head canon that John would be the slowest typer of the four. Are any of you guys paying attention to the times? They're actually quite important. Again, obligatory statement about how I cleaned things up, blah blah blah. I actually inserted a few new sentences, and those will have an explanation once I've posted the entire work, which, depending on many factors, could be by the end of today, and could be in a couple days.
> 
> Now, this chapter ended a bit more excitingly than the previous two were in their entirety. It also ended on a bit of a cliffhanger, which I feel could probably have been described much better in third person. However, I started this in second person, so I'll finish it that way, damnit! Or will I? I'm certainly hoping that, if anyone has actually bothered to read to this point, they're wondering what the heck is going on, as that is the point. Next chapter will be from Rose's POV, and will get stranger still. The fifth (and final) chapter will have your explanation, and will hopefully make slogging through all these pesterlogs worthwhile.


	4. Rose

Your name is Rose Lalonde, and you feel very sore and disgruntled. Some of that discomfort is, undoubtedly, because you've just woken up face first on the floor, but some of it seems to be the trace remains of a headache. While you have suffered headaches before, from reading too much in dim light, they're usually a rare occurrence. You pick yourself up off the floor groggily, absently making note of your surroundings. Looks like you at least lost consciousness in your room. You take the necessary few steps to your computer desk, more to check the time than anything else. 7:30, it reads, and in checking the time you are reminded of your online friends. You may as well see if anyone is online, since you're up.

You log in, and are immediately bombarded with messages from your three friends. However, further inspection reveals that none of them are online. Unfortunate, but you can leave messages for them, as they did for you. You decide to respond to Jade first, as she was the first of the other three to message you.

\- tentacleTherapist [TT] began pestering gardenGnostic [GG] at 7:35 -   
TT: Hello Jade.   
TT: It is indeed unfortunate that I've missed your message, although I imagine that the time difference does play a small part in our frequent, of late, near misses.   
TT: I am pleased to hear that you're doing well.   
TT: I have, in fact, been "psychoanalyzing" Dave, so to speak, although it is much more difficult to do without the "instant" part of instant messaging.   
TT: Nonetheless, he still manages to be a fascinating subject of psychological study for me.   
TT: His attempts to deny his fascination with his brother's puppets are particularly enlightening.   
TT: The situation with my Mother and I is still essentially the same.   
TT: And yes, the fact that none of us ever seem to be online at the same time is curious.   
TT: It seems that I have been pestered, historically, by Dave and John, as well. I am going to answer them. Take care, Jade.   
\- tentacleTherapist [TT] ceased pestering gardenGnostic [GG] at 7:41 -

It still never ceases to amaze you how normal - relatively, at least - Jade has turned out, despite essentially being raised by a dog. Most experts agree that normal mental development is difficult to achieve without a certain amount of human contact throughout childhood, and Jade has definitely been lacking in that. Perhaps Pesterchum, and therefore, you and your friends, have been a help to her in that regard. While you don't really allow yourself a smile, you are cheered by the thought of perhaps making Jade's life a bit brighter. A kind and caring person like her deserves it.

Next, chronologically speaking, would be Dave's message. You skim through his messages, and run a hand through your hair in reaction to his absurdity. You don't fail to notice how long the hair you're hand-combing is. What the...? You look down at the fistful of hair in your hand - it's thick and black. That most DEFINITELY does not belong to you! You look back at your desk - but it isn't there anymore. In its place is a wall covered in multi-colored marker writing. This is NOT your room! Confusion, uncertainty, _fear_ pulses through your body as you jump to your feet, taking in your surroundings and trying to figure out what to _do_.

Your mind blanks for a moment. Your name is Jade Harley and - no, wait, that's not right! Your name is Rose Lalonde. Your name is ROSE LALONDE. _Your name is Rose Lalonde…_ You fall to your knees, holding your head as your friends' memories - and yet your memories - begin coursing through your mind. They increase in speed, to the same degree that the intensity of your panic grows and mutates. Where are you? WHO are you? What is _GOING ON?!_

Finally, you descend into sweet oblivion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here we are after Rose's POV. Up to this point, each chapter was longer than the previous, and now I've gone and broken my pattern and written one shorter. Part of the reason for that is I find that I resonate too much with Rose - I have more in common with her than I'd like to admit, and I always worry that I am writing her sounding far too much like me, and not nearly as ingeniously snarky as Rose ought to be. So basically I am a far less witty Rose, which is nothing to brag about.
> 
> Laziness, and excitement to begin the next chapter, are also what drove me to make this chapter shorter. Even though I really shouldn't be doing that. The majority of my creative writing has been short fiction/short fanfiction, and it results in the characters being underdeveloped. This is an issue even with fanworks; being lazy about character development/description is still a crime, even if the readers KNOW who the characters are. I definitely fall far short of doing the characters themselves justice - characterization is my greatest weakness with writing.
> 
> Anyhow, enough of me and my shortcomings. Next chapter will be the last, and will explain everything you've already figured out. I most definitely will not change POV or tense or anything. Nope, not I. Thanks again to everyone who has read thus far - if you've stuck around and read through the whole thing, I'm hoping the final chapter will make the crappy characterizations worth your while.


	5. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warnings: mental disorders, treatment of mental patients.

A young girl sat on the floor of a sanitary white room, defacing the pristine walls with multi-colored markers. Today, however, or at least currently, her color of choice was a bright green. So she was his Jade, today. The wall clock chimed, informing everyone that it was noontime. Jade turned slightly, her raven tresses framing her face, and her verdant eyes shining brightly: perhaps too brightly. She did not quite seem to notice the clock, however, and went back to her writing.

Her room was a touch messy at the moment. A white, stuffed toy dog lay on the floor – she called him 'Becquerel'; his girl always did have a penchant for physics. There was also the clown doll he had gotten her on one of his many adventures, which she had named 'Lil Cal, sitting on the desk against the wall. A pair of aviator shades that she had wanted dreadfully lay beside the clown. She had not worn them often, as she had to trade her prescription lenses for them, but she had said it made her feel like a movie star wearing them. Near the desk sat a chest of her belongings. The doctor had wanted her to have some familiar things while she stayed there.

Looking at his granddaughter, he could not help but remember the accident that had gotten Jade in this predicament. She was a bright, lovely girl, but since he had taken up raising her, she had suffered from narcolepsy. She grew up as a normal girl, her narcolepsy not causing her many problems, but as an added precaution, he had installed transportalizers on every floor, reducing the risk of her falling asleep on the stairs. He had instructed her to use the transportalizers whenever she was moving about the house, but a grandfather's concern for his granddaughter's safety could only go so far. The day of her eleventh birthday, she had fallen asleep putting up decorations at the top of a stairway, and fallen. She had been in a coma for weeks, but when she awoke, her grandfather was so overjoyed to have her back, he did not notice right away that something was different. It took one of her narcoleptic episodes to reveal just how deeply that fall had harmed her, and still a year more for the aging man to admit he needed to get her help.

_"…like a broken mirror. There seem to be four main facets to her personality, and they were separated by her head trauma. Rather than being pieced back together, each shard of her personality repaired itself with fabricated personality traits, creating four separate personalities, each containing one piece that was part of the original personality…"_

"Mr. Harley?"

The doctor addressing him directly brought the man back from his waking nightmare. He nodded to acknowledge the doctor, but continued watching his granddaughter, his heart constricting in his chest. She should be sitting in the grass, enjoying the cool breeze, or playing one of her instruments, not trapped in this opaque, lifeless prison!

"Like I was saying, her alters are aware of each other, but not aware that they inhabit the same body. They each seem to believe that the other personalities are friends of theirs that they met on an online chat client called Pesterchum," the psychiatrist continued, seeming altogether too keen for Harley's liking. That was his _granddaughter_ the man was talking about, not some psychological experiment!

"It seems as though Jade's narcoleptic episodes trigger the change between alters, and each alter suffers a delusion in which he or she is only aware of items in the room that they associate themselves with. For example, the stuffed dog only seems to hold meaning to Jade. Her other alters do not acknowledge it in any way," the doctor explained. Harley felt a tear trace a path down his cheek as he remembered the fair in France he had won the toy at. Jade had been thrilled with everything she laid eyes on, especially her prize. What an adventure that trip had been! Now… Now, Jade's adventures seemed only to take place in her mind.

"Very rarely do the alters, or Jade, discover the existence of each other. Sometimes, interactions with particular items associated with the other alters will trigger a breakdown that ends in a narcoleptic episode. It would seem that the alters becoming aware of each other is a harrowing experience that Jade's mind is unable to cope with right now, much in the same way that she has rebuilt her memories of her life from before her accident." Harley nodded at this comment. It made sense that, in order to sustain her illusion, there would need to be a reasonable enough back story for it to continue.

The older man finally tore his gaze away from Jade to acknowledge the psychiatrist. 'Dr. J. Noir, M. D.' read his name tag against the clinical white of his lab coat. He still sounded entirely too interested in Jade's condition to imply any sort of concern for her welfare. The thought of his granddaughter being _observed_ by this man caused angry bile to rise up in Harley's throat. With great effort, he calmed himself and choked down his ire in order to ask a question of the _specialist_ : "Will she – will she ever be the lass she was before her accident?"

The question brought a somber expression to Noir's face. Finally, the gravity of the situation had struck the scoundrel! "I do not have enough data to draw many conclusions, but I do know this: her current reality is solid, without many cracks. What cracks do exist cause a mental breakdown that reverts her back to a sort of starting point with a different alter, almost like a record skipping. Any attempts to alter her reality have resulted in similar breakdowns. She may never knit together the facets of her personality," Noir told him, wearing his detached, professional mask.

_She may never knit together the facets of her personality…_ The sentence echoed throughout Harley's mind repeatedly, and he felt his hopes slipping between his fingers like grains of sand. Harley was a man of action and adventure – he did not entirely understand all this mental disorder mumbo jumbo, and normally would not have taken Noir's words at face value. However, a glance at his granddaughter writing on the walls and giggling to herself, apparently in her own world, confirmed Noir's prognosis. She was not the Jade Harley he knew and loved – in fact, she was more than his Jade – and she might never be again.

Harley nodded dumbly at the doctor's suggestion that she stay a while, for further observation, and vaguely registered Noir saying that they would work on a plan to get her home. All this time that she had been here, he had been hoping for an answer, _anything_ that he could do to get his little girl back. And now… And now, it seemed like there was nothing he could do. He spared one last look at his darling, beautiful Jade, and left the observation room, the vice of despair crushing his heart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And, well, that's that. I can't even remember what made me think of this - I'm fairly sure I was just sitting in a chair, looking at my phone, or something else equally mundane. It really struck me, though, and I felt compelled to write it. I had a hard time with the beginning - I simply had the idea of Jade having DID and the other Beta kids being her alters, and the best way I could think of (although now I would certainly argue that it's definitely not the most effective way) to present that idea was through a day in the life of DID!Jade. After going through it a few times, and at the suggestion of some folks whose opinions I value highly, I'm going to use this as a springboard for a full-length sequel. I actually retconned the original manuscript to include enough information to make a sequel possible. I fully intend to do it from a third person POV, because second person was a struggle, and because I think a longer story would benefit from a more descriptive and inclusive narrative style. My hope is also that I can overcome my Shyamalan Syndrome (aka shitty characterizations/shitty character representations) with a longer story that allows for better characterization and growth.
> 
> So, all that being said, I hope this was enjoyable, and the ending makes all of those disjointed pesterlogs worthwhile. Or that it at least provides enough interest for a sequel. I figured it was worth the switch to third person in the epilogue, to show a wider view than that within Jade's mind. Again, all of this was originally posted on Fanfiction.net some time ago, so if you'd like to see the original work, you can look me up under the same pen name there. This is far more polished, however. I may actually go back and retcon the original, we'll have to see.
> 
> Thanks to everyone who has bothered to read this right to the end! I'd love to know what you liked, what you didn't, what you did and did not think worked. Any suggestions for the sequel would be greatly appreciated. I was really tempted, after this edit, to include a reference to Deckard Cain, but I didn't think his signature line, "Stay a while and listen," would fit the mood I was going for.


End file.
